Can We Do Both? Eportfolios for Student Learning and Assessment

Author(s):  
Candyce Reynolds ◽  
Judith Patton

The use of eportfolios in American universities has proliferated over the last ten years as administrators and educators have discovered the rich opportunities that they provide for both promoting and assessing student learning. However, too often institutions of higher education prioritize assessment over student learning, creating assignments and protocols that ease assessment of student work while at the same time ignoring the valuable aspects that creating an eportfolio can provide for students, rendering the eportfolio as merely another assignment. This chapter focuses on lessons learned in University Studies, Portland State University’s four-level interdisciplinary general education program, about the importance of balancing assessment needs with student learning needs.

Author(s):  
Virginia J. Anderson

Assessment is a major focus is higher education; IT faculties and departments are being asked to document quantitatively what students have learned in relation to goal-oriented expectations. Although “students will value diversity in the academy and the workplace” is a common course, general education or institutional goal, we often know little about how well students achieve this goal because we do not assess it. This chapter describes how to construct Student Learning Outcomes consistent with valuing diversity, how to design tests/assignments to see if student have achieved those outcomes and how to use that information to inform and enhance student learning in our IT courses, departments or institutions. The chapter reviews key assessment principles and practices. Then, we examine four strategies to document how students’ cognitive perceptions, attitudes, values and social actions in regard to diversity issues may be impacted and assessed. Assessment action scenarios elucidate the effective use of rubrics, Primary Trait Analysis, portfolios and affective behavioral checklists.


2011 ◽  
pp. 1965-1971
Author(s):  
Carol C. Dudding

This article describes the use of two-way videoconferencing for providing live clinical supervision of graduate students. It includes the rationale and description of a method of supervision as it has been implemented within a distance education program. The reader is provided with research findings and implications for policymaking within institutions of higher education and professional organizations overseeing the clinical training of future professionals.


2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (9) ◽  
pp. 1102-1125
Author(s):  
Gretchen Givens Generett ◽  
Olga M. Welch

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it sheds light on an intergenerational leadership process experienced by two African American women. This piece is a leadership story situated within a School of Education in higher education that describes the challenges faced by a Dean with many over 10 years in the role and a newly minted Associate Dean. The influence and impact of intergenerational dialogues is described as a meaningful and necessary process to better understand leadership in institutions of higher education.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Matthew T. Heinly ◽  
Anurag Rimzhim ◽  
Rebecca A. Boncoddo ◽  
Carolyn R. Fallahi

Given the current focus on assessment, funding decisions, and increased demands for faculty accountability, many institutions of higher education and academic departments must demonstrate evidence of student learning. Beginning with a curriculum map, we operationally defined how our learning objectives were met for each course. Using this curriculum map, we then developed a common syllabus for each course, which in turn allowed us to more specifically define course learning objectives and a basic outline of content. This process informed and faciltiated the development of embedded assessments and rubrics for each course. Once data is collected from these assessments, we will refine our assessment battery and determine which learning objectives are being met as well as what courses or curricular modifications are needed. This is an account of one department’s assessment process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-268
Author(s):  
Kaela Casey ◽  
Linda Kennedy ◽  
Janet Pinkley ◽  
Laura Worden

Purpose Each of Ventura County’s four public institutions of higher education list information literacy (IL) as either an institutional outcome or general education outcome for their students. Despite this, communication between the four campuses on this topic was limited. Librarians from these institutions applied to be part of the grant-funded Project ALAS Faculty Fellows Program to find ways to collaborate with each other and with teaching faculty to support the development of IL skills in transfer students. Design/methodology/approach Librarians from Ventura County’s four public institutions of higher education, with funding from the Project ALAS Faculty Fellows Program, held a one-day IL summit to bring librarians and teaching faculty together to unify objectives and create a seamless IL transition for transfer students. Findings Creating an opportunity for librarians and teaching faculty to discuss the definition and potential applications of IL in courses and assignments led to positive outcomes. Teaching faculty learned about library resources and took steps to begin collaborating with their campus librarian(s). Librarians also learned about different academic expectations in various disciplines, made new connections and made plans for future IL-focused collaborations. Originality/value Studies have demonstrated that IL is a key component to student transfer success. However, this is not an element in education that can be achieved by one department alone. The collaborative effort described in this paper can serve as a model for other librarians hoping to foster dialogue and cooperation amongst their regional institutions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 88-102
Author(s):  
Ann J. Cahill ◽  
Tom Mould

Shortly after the presidential election of 2016, a group of faculty and staff at Elon University committed to developing and offering a one-credit course  designed to provide students with intellectual and practical skills that would be useful in facing contemporary social and political challenges. This article describes the process of developing the course, its structure and content, and its effects on the students, faculty, and staff who participated in it. The article also discusses strengths and weaknesses of the course design as a means of helping to ensure the success of any future endeavors. The course, which eventually came to be titled “Refusing to Wait: Intellectual and Practical Resources for Troubled Times,” is an example of how institutions of higher education can respond quickly and effectively to political developments, while keeping student learning at the center of their mission.


1985 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 73-91
Author(s):  
William A. Simpson

The 43 British universities conducted a mandated budget and enrollment retrenchment over the 1981-84 period. This exercise required that the universities achieve budget restrictions ranging as high as 40 percent. No major North American research university has in recent history been forced to undergo such a severe retrenchment. This presentation is a report of a four-month field study conducted by visiting 14 British universities, selected in part, by the size of their mandated reduction. The emphasis of this report is on successful policies, procedures, philosophies, and techniques that may be applicable to other institutions of higher education, irrespective of nationality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 04001
Author(s):  
Vladimir Lvovskiy ◽  
Anton Agapov ◽  
Tatiana Mysina

A teacher mastering a new paradigm needs professional support. In this case, it is recommended to create collective pedagogical action, in which all reflexive functions are performed by a teacher together with colleagues and educational technicians specialized in activity-based educational methods. The specific task of educational technicians is to follow semantic guidelines and normative frameworks of the above-mentioned pedagogical action. The reflexive position of educational technicians in relation to teaching means is that they should rely on activity-based learning and the corresponding principles of organizing and managing educational processes while supporting teachers. Thus, it is necessary to state that activity-based learning with its foundations, objectives, and methods has not acquired a comprehensive form for its popularization among school teachers. Currently, this paradigm is represented by a set of theoretical constructs from classical Russian psychology and a description of different educational experiments. The prerequisites for the training of educational technicians are associated with the application of the activity-based approach, which is the most developed in general education, for the training of educational technicians specialized in activity-based learning at institutions of higher education, including through the organization of quasi-professional activities. The study aims at considering various aspects of training educational technicians at institutions of higher education, including the specifics of the interim assessment. The authors of the article examine the corresponding literature on activity-based formats of professional training, as well as methods of forming educational events and outlining their content. The results obtained in the course of the study offer possible solutions to creating favorable conditions for the experimental and productive actions of future educational technicians. The novelty of the study is determined by a new approach to the training of educational technicians, which includes educational games having both diagnostic and reflexive potential.


2020 ◽  
pp. 103-122
Author(s):  
Viktor SYNCHAK ◽  
Oleksandra HREKHOVA

The article shows the role of the dual form of education in improving the quality of training of graduates of domestic educational institutions. The need to diversify the sources of funding for the dual form of higher education at the stages of its implementation is emphasized. The dual form of the organization of training by the motivating factor of diversification of sources of financing of education is defined. The content of the principle of duality and the peculiarities of its application in improving the professionalism of the graduate are revealed. The importance of two forms of student learning in different environments is emphasized. The concepts of «dual form of education acquisition» and «dual form of education organization» are described. The correctness of the application in scientific vocabulary and the practical application of the concepts «dual form of education acquisition» and «dual form of education organization» is emphasized. Foreign experience in financing higher education is analyzed. The multidimensionality in the training of specialists in free economic education with the use of academic capital and diversification of sources of funding for education in foreign practice is shown. The foreign experience of training specialists in working professions and financing vocational training is generalized. The benefits of direct and indirect funding of vocational education for the creation of additional jobs in the workplace have been identified. The German experience of formation of the Framework Curriculum by an educational institution and the Framework Plan of Practice with the participation of the employer is given. Emphasis is placed on the incentives and motivation of the mentor in teaching students in the workplace. The results of pilot projects on introduction of the dual form of the organization of training in domestic establishments on preparation of working trades are processed. It is stated a high level of employment of graduates of vocational schools and raise of savings due to increased practical training in the workplace. The peculiarities of realization of the dual form of organization of education and its financing in the Bar College of Transport and Construction are generalized. The necessity of taking into account the work schedule of employers when forming educational institutions’ curricula is proved. A comparison of the ratios of student learning in educational institutions and in workplaces with different models of the dual form of education is conducted. Calculations were made for the educational program with the distribution of loans between domestic institutions of higher education and employers. The main directions of development of educational and professional programs in institutions of higher education are offered. Keywords: forms of education, cost of education, theoretical training, practical training, base of practice, interests of an employer, educational-professional program, principle of duality, dual form of education acquisition, dual form of education organization, models of realization of dual form of education, institutions of higher education, institutions of professional education, financing of education, direct and indirect financing, financing of vocational training, financial support, diversification of sources of financial resources.


2015 ◽  
pp. 10-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans De Wit ◽  
Betty Leask

Institutions of higher education, national governments and (inter)national organizations have become more proactive, comprehensive, diverse, and innovative in their approaches to internationalization. Critical reflection on their outcomes, and in particular their impact on student learning, has resulted in a search for approaches to internationalization that have deeper meaning and greater impact. However, it is only relatively recently that questions related to the relationship between the internationalization of higher education, the curriculum and the disciplines have been explored in depth. Some of these questions are discussed, such as the relationship between ‘at home’ and ‘abroad’, the role of mobility, the role of contexts and the definition of internationalization of the curriculum.


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